Looking for a little creativity recharge as 2014 winds to a close? Not looking to have to open that pocketbook one more time this holiday season? Please enjoy this collection of creativity and creative-craft posts I have written for others during my blog tour for Committed: A Memoir of the Artist’s Road. Let’s learn from creatives: Committed features […]

Long before Committed: A Memoir of the Artist’s Road was published, I had been sharing wisdom on the creative process I learned from artists interviewed on my 2010 cross-country road trip here on this blog. Now I’ve distilled five of them for a guest post on The Loft Literary Center’s Writer’s Block blog. Those who have read Committed […]

Memoirs are supposed to be languid reflections of a notable life lived, correct? So how would you describe Cheryl Strayed’s runaway bestseller Wild, coming soon as a movie to a theater near you starring Reece Witherspoon? Strayed shares in her memoir insights on a failed marriage, grief over a lost mother, and pain stemming from a […]

My blog tour following the publication of Committed: A Memoir of the Artist’s Road continues with a writing craft post of mine on the award-winning blog by K.M. Weiland, Helping Writers Become Authors. K.M.’s readership largely comprises fiction writers, so I kept that in mind in writing a piece about crafting dialogue in your stories. In my […]

Author tours rarely proved a profitable investment for book publishers, but I have to imagine there are moments of fun for the authors. Yes, travel has its nuisances–and I suppose I speak with some authority since I’ve written a travel memoir–but I do find myself inclined to put up with some of the hassle to […]

One common misconception I find many of my Loft blogging students have is that they believe their blog is like a book written in real time, with each chapter building upon the last. I have to point out to them that unlike a memoir, where you read from beginning to end, with each post you […]

On what topics would an eighth grader blog? Anything and everything, I’ve learned. During an all-day creative writing workshop I conducted with about forty students at Henrico County Public Schools‘ Elko Middle School, I read student writings on everything from football to indie music, from wrestling to baking. I also read a powerful “open letter” […]

Perhaps a 2014 resolution for me should be to gain readers in Africa and South America. I say that because among the dozens of responses to my survey requesting feedback on what to write about in 2014 were readers from the other four occupied continents. I also suppose the time of day I make posts […]

Happy holidays, readers! I’m now about two months into my fourth year with The Artist’s Road–it’s true, I launched in October of 2010–and I must say the third was pretty fun. I was blessed to have two posts featured on WordPress’ Freshly Pressed in 2013, and I brought to a conclusion my MFA Nugget series. Now […]

A headline like that is sure to draw traffic, right? I do actually list two steps to being the top Google search result below, but will then emphasize how what a blogger really wants is not a high click-through rate for a single post but a vibrant community of readers who keep coming back. But you […]